Peanut Butter & Jellyfish, and other random notes

Call it official: each of the 5 Costa Rican Casagrandes has sustained an injury during our short but intense stay. Here they are in order of occurrence:

1. Tae falls off a bed in mid-September and receives 5 stitches in his chin.
2. Tara wipes out on her surfboard which then attacks her forehead, leaving her a peach-sized bump at her hairline.
3. Baker mysteriously falls into a small hole at the Hotel Guilded Iguana and twists an ankle.
4. One week ago, during Surf Club, Riley is hugged by a jellyfish, making for a very painful but fortunately short-lived set of welts on her chest.
5. Yesterday, a half-mile after purchasing his dirtbike, Jerry wipes out going 3 mph landing his right calf on the exhaust pipe of the bike and making for a heck of a burn.

Hooray! The family that hurts together, sticks together.

Why did the chicken cross the road?

Well?

No, seriously, why? This is a real question here in Nosara as chickens are constantly crossing the road at the worst times, right in front of cars, motorbikes, and ATVs. Not sure what North American residents think is so funny about the joke...We in Nosara just want to know WHY??? And, we'd like to politely ask them to stop, or at the very least to look both ways.

The main road into Nosara village just broke today, officially. It had been falling into a hole for the past month or so. Perhaps a month ago, 10 inches of the road had chipped away and fallen into the wetness below. A week later, two feet were missing; then four feet, then fully half the road was gone. By yesterday, there was less than half a road left, just enough space for one car to get through. Today, at last, construction vehicles were on site to fix it up.

Two firsts today: Today was the first time that Tara said, "I could imagine us staying here a couple years." AND today was the first time that I (Jerry) missed home for real. Other days, I have occasionally wished for some bit of home. But today, I was generally wishing for home. Might be the burnt leg, the lunch that took 45 minutes to receive at the usually rapid serving Soda Vanessa, the dust in the eyes and nose while riding the ATV, the fact that our water stopped working, or something else. But, Alexandria was looking good to me today. And, Nosara was looking particularly good to Tara. Interesting that.

And, last of all, I include this simply because I wanted to title this post "Peanut Butter and Jellyfish." About a month ago, we gave our friend Maya her very first peanut butter sandwich. Apparently, you can't get one of these classics in France. Unbelievably, Maya did not enjoy it!! Even with milk. But, she is still our friend!

And for the French readers, a poem:

Maya est une jeune fille

E Maya est nous ami,

Oui?

Pura Vida!!